The expert of our website Alexander Mirzoyan gave an interview to Bobsoccer.ru and returned to his thoughts about the performance of Spartak’s central defenders.

— Alexander
Bagratovich, Spartak’s line of offense has been demonstrating good performance:
they scored during every match and showed the best results in the championship.
What do you think about the defense — is it getting better or not? There seems
to be some stability in the central zone with the pair of Kutepov and
Maksimovic…
— Yes, they kept playing together after the
winter break, but it’s not that easy. We know that Maksimovic is a temporary
transfer who doesn’t hide the desire to return to Italy. He was a reserve
player there, but here he constantly gets play time. It serves as great
practice for him. The national team summons him, he is able to keep good
physical condition. He is a solid defender. It is obvious that Maksimovic is
doing his best. He wants to make the owners of his previous club want him back.
It’s a normal work process. The player shows good performance as a transfer,
demonstrates good level and doesn’t disappoint in general.

I think of Kutepov as of a special player. After
all, he is rather young; he is only 24 years old. His age difference with
Maksimovic is not that great though. That’s why when people ask me about Kutepov
I keep saying that he still has to grow. His level is not getting lower, but it
doesn’t grow as well. Bocchetti got injured just like Tasci did, so Ilya got a
real chance to stay in the first team. Both of injured players have recovered,
but Carrera doesn’t want to change anything in the central zone. I think he’s
right. But Maksimovic who has his own motivation will play and leave and
Kutepov will stay.

It means that he needs to meet the coach’s
expectation every time. I think his performance improved a bit when he
understood that there are no other players except him and Maksimovic to put in
the center of defense. I don’t know what will happen with Tasci, maybe he will
leave this summer too. Bocchetti turned 31 and he doesn’t have much play time.
Kutepov, on the other hand, has a chance to participate in more than one
season. There is another problem. He must understand that his level is not
enough to participate in international matches or to go against the best teams
of the Russian championship. It’s more complicated. As for the national team
and the coming World Cup — both the responsibility and the skill level should
at least doubled.

— Do you mean that they still have to
greatly improve their skills?
— Yes, without a doubt. The most important thing
is that he has the opportunity to do it. He needs to find some sort of sport
anger. He also needs to analyze his performance more often, to think about the
good skills he has, those skills that can be improved and those skills that he
lacks. He has to think of a way to make some improvement. If he starts showing
better performance the coach and the fan community will surely notice it. Also,
the team will feel it since Ilya’s absence will influence the general performance.
It means that he has to become a player that is crucial for the high level of
team’s performance. I should say that I don’t compare Kutepov and Bocchetti who
is 31 already. Kutepov has the advantages of age and opportunities, but he can
lose them very fast. Now it’s all about the leadership. It’s not for everyone,
so Ilya has to prove that this is what he wants and what he aims to achieve.

— Is it possible for Kutepov to learn
something from Maksimovic?
— Why should Maksimovic teach anyone? He plays
for himself. In Soviet times people kept giving others some hints and pieces of
advice. Then the experienced players helped their younger partners to grow. The
payment was equal, too...

— Maksimovic will leave this summer,
what should the club do?
— They should find Petrovic… It’s a joke of
course. Right now we can only guess. We don’t know what’s going to happen with
Tasci. If he leaves the club will have to strengthen this position. To tell you
the truth I can’t see any good players from the Academy, the so-called Spartak
pyramid and the Russian championship. There isn’t a single player who would be
able to join the team and improve the situation. I mean the Russian
championship, the Champions League and the Europa League — all of them. This is
why the club needs to find a very strong foreign defender who shows solid
performance.

— It would be great if they found at
least one.
— It would be even better if they found
more… The way our side defenders play also raises some questions. The current
team members need to feel some competition. If you want to continue moving up
you need to match this height, to understand that there are new challenges,
there are opponents who will punish you for even those mistakes which are not
usually taken care of in the Russian championship.

— If we don’t have any suitable players
in the team then we have to find some transfer players? What is better in your
opinion — permanent or temporary transfers? Which option is more promising?
— Everything depends on the management.
Some players decide to stay with Spartak after their transfer time ends. Why
not? It is one side of a coin. There’s also another: there are people who join
the team, play for it for a while and then say ‘Thank you and goodbye!’ In such
situations the club has to start from scratch...